Behind The Bathroom Door
by angel-death-dealer
Summary: Sue's left weak from the battle with Doom, and when morning comes, she needs a helping hand. ReedSue fluff and tension.


**I'd like to blame this on Toxic-beetle god bless her, for putting this idea of tension in my head. However, there's no other way to say this - underneath the tension, there is nothing put pure, undeniable fluff. **

**Behind the Bathroom Door**

"Whoa, careful there."

"Sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine. How are you feeling?"

"Glad to finally be doing this."

"You'd think it's been a long time since you last had one."

"Two days constitutes as a long time in this department."

It was probably a good idea that, shortly after breakfast, Ben and Johnny had left the Baxter Building. Had they still been around to have heard this conversation, complete with all the bangs and crashes that came from the bathroom, they would have come to the same conclusion that anyone would have: that Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Girl were getting up to all sorts in the bathroom. However, they were doing no such thing.

When they had defeated Doom the previous evening, it was discovered that Sue was the only one of them who was physically weakened by using her powers. Of course, this had never occured to them before, as she'd never shown any signs of discomfort after using them, but containing the supernova that Johnny had created was more than she could apparently handle. She'd half-collapsed on the street, and Ben had helped to half-carry her back to the Baxter, even though Reed insisted that he was okay with her. However, he was equally exhausted.

As soon as they'd gone back to the Baxter, she'd fallen asleep on the couch, feeling a similar weakness as what you'd experience with the flu. She didn't remember getting to her bed, but she definately woke up in her own bed, and she vaugely remembered Reed whispering to her about it getting late. When she'd woken up that morning, although she was shaky on her legs, and still weak when she stood up, she felt slightly better. Her head was no longer pounding in echoes to her heartbeat, and her stomach wasn't constantly queasy anymore. With the new burst of health that had returned to her, she realised how badly she needed a shower after their fight the previous day - something that she knew was going to be a problem with her shaky legs.

Needless the say, the question "Reed, can you help me have a shower?" had made their team leader choke on his coffee. For a moment, she'd wondered whether she was going to have to give him mouth to mouth. Not that she'd have minded, of course.

Of course, she hadn't exactly picked a private moment. No, she'd asked him randomly over breakfast. Ben had almost put his fist through the glass-topped dining table in the centre of the kitchen, and Johnny had almost inhaled his rasher of bacon, which had him coughing and spluttering along with Reed. However, once she'd pointed out to her ex-boyfriend that Ben wasn't exactly able to help her much, and Johnny was her brother, it was clear that Reed was the only one that could help her out.

So now, he was walking into the bathroom with her, helping her towards the shower. Even though they'd seen each other naked countless times during their relationship, this was probably going to be the most awkward time of their lives. More awkward than when he had walked in on her a few days ago.

He started to wonder how he let himself get talked into these things.

He was going to be standing inside the shower cubicle with her, making sure that she didn't pass out or collapse. After her suggestion, they'd tried to come up with any other possible way for her to take a shower, but seeing as she still felt dizzy when she stood up for longer than a few minutes, it was impossible for her to even consider doing this on her own.

He'd half considered ringing another woman and asking her to help, until he realised that he was an adult, and that he was more mature than that. He could have a shower with Sue and trust himself, right?

To cure the awkwardness, Sue had suggested that they shower in their bathing suits. Great idea, right? I mean, she was only going to be standing in front of him in a skimpy bikini, rather than completely naked. But still, he felt like his heart was beating ten to the dozen just at the thought of it. She had put her bikini on underneath the bathrobe that actually belonged to him, and he was already wearing just his swimming shorts, which couldn't really be any different to any other pair of shorts he owned, these ones just had an ocean pattern on them. He didn't think he'd ever worn them before in his life.

Reed released her from where he had caught her when she stumbled, letting her stand by herself as he leaned into the shower cubical and turned the water on. He tested the water with his hands, and it almost scalded him, so he turned the cold a little higher, continuously testing is so that it was okay for them to get in.

"Okay," He announced, still facing the running water. "Water's good."

When he turned back around to face her, the first thing he noticed was the absence of the navy towelling robe that had covered her. In fact, all that covered her now was thin and sparse areas of material that covered her private areas. The bikini was a mid-toned blue, extremely accenting her eyes, giving them a beautiful shine, and it showed off her cleavage and her toned stomach and legs. And those hips? He didn't trust himself to think about them. Yes, she had definately been working out.

"This is weird." She laughed, clearly feeling as uncomfortable as he was.

He laughed along, but it was blatantly a nervous laugh. He nodded, and held out his arm to the shower. "After you."

She gave him a smile, and walked past him to get into the shower cubical. As she did, Reed looked away out of politeness, but found himself staring at her reflection in the mirror instead. It wasn't just any part of her reflection either…it was her-

"Reed." She muttered simply, as he turned at her tiny voice and saw her steadying herself on the wall.

He got into the shower cubical beside her, and used his arms to steady her as she leant her weight against him. "You okay?" He asked her quietly, she could only just hear him over the rushing of the water.

She nodded. "I…I just felt a bit dizzy."

Reed frowned, as she placed her arms on his and steadied herself. "Sue, maybe this isn't such a good idea…"

She turned to him with a pleading look. "Reed, please. I need a shower." She said. "I feel like I'm lying in my own filth after everything that happened last night." She explained.

The puppy-dog eyes that she subconsciously gave him won him over, and he nodded. "Okay." He agreed,

And so they went about their shower.

It was pretty hard, considering that as large as the Baxter apartment was, the shower was very tiny for the two of them moving around in. They kept brushing up against each other in places where they probably shouldn't have done given the situation, especially as they were in a shower, and although both were effected by the accidental grazing of a hand against the others thigh, neither of them made any move to show it.

Amongst the brushing of hands, Reed had to keep on steadying Sue when she teetered, and stop her from falling against the wall, which she would have slipped right off because she was as wet as the wall itself. Eventually, she gave a frustrated sigh.

"This is so annoying!" She groaned through gritted teeth. "I can't even wash my own hair!"

Reed smiled at her, and braving himself, stepped closer, so that he was standing directly behind her. "Sit down." He instructed.

She looked at him strangely, unsure that she had heard him right. "What?"

"Sit down." He said, and sat down on the floor of the shower himself.

He steadied her as she stumbled on her way down, and after some moving around to get comfortable, she was eventually seated with her back pressed against his chest. The water above them hit her at just the right angle, and washed the shampoo from her hair without spraying in hers or Reed's face. Of course, to fit sitting down in the tiny shower, they both had to draw their knees up, and Sue kept her arms over Reed's legs so that she was staying in one position.

Reed's arms moved from where they had been steadying her shoulders, and instead started to kneed into her scalp, massaging the remains of shampoo from her golden hair. She instantly let out a sigh, when his expertly trained scientists hands moved over her scalp so firmly, but with a gentleness she had never experienced from anything else. There was something about being in the shower with Reed, whilst he washed her hair for her, that awakened a desire in her that she hadn't felt for a long time.

It was a dangerous desire, one that she knew that she couldn't act on. If her stubbornness wouldn't stop her from acting on it, her physical weakness definitely would. She had always seen Reed as an attractive man, there was no question about that, he was extraordinarily handsome to her. She had once been attracted to him in _that _way before when they were together, but that was back when they loved each other. Not like now, right?

Reed didn't love her anymore, and she had known it for sometime. She had known it from the moment that he had called her one of his best friends, along with Ben. She wasn't stupid, and knew that there were limits with friendship. Best friends could never fall in love with each other. Sometimes, especially times like this, Sue regretted walking out his door, because she didn't want to hurt him, and because she couldn't stand the thought of losing him, but at the end of the day, she was losing him by walking away.

But he had let her leave.

No, worse.

He hadn't come after her. He hadn't fought for her.

For the next two years, Sue had spent a lot of time wondering whether or not he regretted not coming after her. After all, they used to talk about being together forever, and away from the public eye, he was the man that every woman dreamed of. A part of her just hoped that she would be that woman, although that part of her was one she was trying to keep buried, no matter how much their compromising position tried to resurface it.

She felt Reed's hands release her hair, whilst he reached for the hair conditioner. She didn't move, and certainly didn't speak, in fear of making the moment awkward when the uncomfortable silence of it had already been lifted and forgotten. Now, she was more than content to let him do anything to her whilst she sat there.

It was only a matter of seconds before she felt his fingers weaving into her locks again, and she let out a sigh which she hoped wasn't audible over the sound of the shower. Only he did hear it, and he was trying very hard to distract himself from the fact that he had Sue making satisfied little noises in his lap. He didn't want to embarrass himself with her.

Eventually though, his body seemed to understand that nothing could happen, and concentrating on washing the conditioner from Sue's hair became more enjoyable for him. She knew that he was just doing it to be thorough, as he had no idea about washing hair as long as hers, but she also didn't think to tell him that the conditioner would have been completely gone at least five minutes ago.

His hands left her scalp, and rested on her shoulders again after some time. "I think you're good." He told her with a smile. He went to stand up, but she didn't move. "Sue, do you feel okay?" He asked her, worried that she was feeling dizzy again.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm just…comfortable." She told him, and he looked at her strangely, wondering how on Earth she could be comfortable crushed up in a shower with him. "I've spent most of the past week walking around your lab, and staying up all night worrying. This is comfortable."

He laughed a little, and gave up. It was early, and he still had plenty of time to spare before they had a meeting with the Mayor, and knew that a bit of relaxation before what was no doubt going to be a hectic day was good for him, so he shifted back into his position behind her. Instead of putting his arms on her shoulders, he wrapped them around her stomach, holding her against him. Instantly, he breathed in the aroma of the shampoo that he had just rubbed into her hair. It smelt like lavender, and somehow, that suited her.

Sue leaned forward, so that the jet spray of water hit her face for a moment, and she wiped her hands over it, removing the excess water before placing her arms over Reed's holding his embrace steady, and placing her head on his shoulder.

"I hate being weak like this." She grumbled into the side of his neck, the vibrations of her breath against his skin sending shivers down his back, which he managed to take control off.

"I know you do." He whispered back to her, barely audible over the water, but she heard it just above her ear. "But you're getting stronger already." He assured her.

"Tell that to me when I'm running around again." She moaned.

He laughed gently, and then they were silent for a moment, nothing but the sound of water against ceramics surrounding them. He felt her breathing steady against his neck, and nudged her gently with his shoulder. "You still awake there?"

"Yeah." She said distractedly, and rolled her head so that he could see she was, in fact, awake.

"Are you sure? Because you're making a habit of falling asleep in my arms," She blushed at his comment. Clearly it had been Reed who had carried her to bed the night before.

"You complaining?" She teased him weakly.

He shook his head. "Definitely not, but today we have that meeting with the Mayor." He reminded her. She looked slightly confused. "You were sleeping when he called."

"We could just...not go." She said simply. "Stay home, and I can go back to sleep."

He smiled at the idea of having her in his arms for a whole day, but he knew that he couldn't. He'd only end up ruining things between them by kissing her, like he had almost done the other night on the riverside. He couldn't afford to ruin the friendship they'd only just regained. They had boundaries, and he needed to stick to them.

"I can't." He told her reluctantly.

But still, she didn't move. "Please?" She asked him.

He almost gave in to her.

_Almost._

"We'll be home agian before you know it." He told her. "It's not that long."

"It's always a long time when you'd rather be in bed." She mumbled tiredly. She never could lie or even bend the truth when she was tired, and he loved it. She always said the strangest things.

He smiled, and managed to stand up, helping her to her feet at the same time. He turned the water off, instantly missing the warm water running over him, and they got out of the shower. He reached for a towel, white and fluffy, warm from being over the radiator, and wrapped it around her tightly, bundling her up in it's softness. She smiled tiredly, and Reed wrapped his own towel around his waist.

She smiled at him as devilishly as she could muster. "You checking me out?" She tease him.

Reed laughed nervously. "No...I uh...I'm...uh...you...uhh."

Turning around, she started towards the door of the bathroom. "It's okay, Reed. I know you're checking me out. You don't have to hide it. I don't mind."

He raised his eyes from where she had caught him, hearing her laugh as he followed her out of the room.

God, he loved her.


End file.
